1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to focused ion beams, and particularly to a focused ion beam system capable of acquiring surface structure information, internal structure information, and internal composition information about a sample simultaneously. The invention also relates to methods of sample preparation and observation whereby the acquisition of such sample structure and composition information and focused ion beam processing are carried out using a plurality of devices.
2. Background Art
As the semiconductor devices become smaller and smaller in size, the electron microscope has become an indispensable tool for structural analysis. It has also become indispensable to use focused ion beam processing for the preparation of a sample for the observation of an electron microscope image. Focused ion beam processing generally involves capturing a scanning ion microscope (SIM) image and designating a position to be processed. Meanwhile, it is becoming increasingly difficult to set a processing position in semiconductor devices, which are becoming increasingly more multi-layered and complicated, with reference to such SIM images alone. This is due to the fact that the SIM images provide only sample surface information. In response, a method has become more common whereby an image obtained by a separate technique is superposed on the SIM image, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 or 2. The separate technique herein includes methods utilizing optical microscope images or CAD.
Patent Document 1: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No.2000-223061 A
Patent Document 2: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No.7-29535 A